The Bush campaign is "convinced" it has carried Ohio and the presidential election, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said. He stopped just short of declaring victory, but added that the president would speak later today.

5:30 a.m. Who voted how

Pres. Bush carried white men, voters with family income over $100,000 and weekly churchgoers, exit polls show. Three-fourths of white voters who described themselves as born-again Christians or evangelicals supported Bush. That group represented about a fifth of all voters.

Kerry was the overwhelming favorite of black voters and had a big lead among Hispanics, though Bush improved his performance with that key group. Kerry had a lead of almost 10% among women, another core group of Democratic supporters.

Young voters supported Kerry over Bush by more than 15 percentage points, but the expected surge in their participation this year was not evident, the polls show.

What was foremost on voters' minds? Worries over terrorism, Iraq and the economy, the polls found.

5:15 a.m. ET: It's all down to Ohio

Pres. Bush and Sen. Kerry are running neck-and-neck — 254 to 242 electoral votes — with three states remaining to be called by the AP. But neither New Mexico (five electoral votes) nor Iowa (seven) can decide the race; only Ohio (20) can put either candidate over the 270-vote threshold needed for victory.

Bush leads by a substantial 140,000-vote margin in Ohio, with 99% of precincts reporting. But the Kerry campaign maintains that some 250,000 provisional ballots remain to be counted, and is vowing to fight to make every vote count. For a while, the Bush campaign appeared set to declare victory, but CNN reported at 5:12 a.m. ET that the president had decided not to address a rally of his supporters. About the same time, some Bush campaign lawyers boarded a plane heading for the battleground state, were the battle looks likely to continue.

4:43 a.m. ET: Kerry wins Wisconsin

Sen. Kerry won Wisconsin with its 10 electoral votes, AP projected based on returns and exit polls. The win left three states outstanding but only one of them — Ohio — in a position to decide the presidential election. CNN says both Ohio and New Mexico are too close to call, while Iowa says it results will be delayed due to problems with ballot-counting machines.

3:58 a.m. ET: Daschle defeated

Sen. Tom Daschle, the Democratic minority leader, lost his seat in the U.S. Senate to Republican challenger John Thune. The highly symbolic loss, the first time in 52 years that a party leader has been defeated, sealed a night that saw the GOP widen its grip on the Senate by four seats.

3:40 a.m. ET: Kerry wins Mich.

Sen. Kerry won the battleground state of Michigan with its 17 electoral votes, the AP projected based on near-complete returns and exit polls. That leaves Iowa, Wisconsin, New Mexico and the biggest prize, Ohio, uncalled.

3:38 a.m. ET: Close to 120 million voted

An estimated 117.5 to 121 million Americans voted Tuesday, according to projections compiled by the AP. That would bring turnout close to the high of 1960, when two-thirds of registered voters went to the polls.

3:03 a.m. ET: Sleep or speak?

Sen. John Kerry has gone to bed, NBC reports, while Pres. George Bush is trying to decide whether to address his supporters. ABC showed Kerry's campaign headquarters in Boston emptying out for the night, in a signal that the Democrats intended to wait as long as necessary for provisional and absentee ballots to be counted. Bush's advisers are meanwhile discussing whether he should declare victory or to simply thank his supporters and go to bed himself, CNN says.

2:55 a.m. ET: State update

Pres. Bush won Nevada's five electoral votes while Sen. Kerry won Hawaii's four, the AP projected, while Iowa results started to look as if they would be delayed. NBC and CBS both said broken ballot-counting machines were causing the Iowa lag. Aside from Iowa and Ohio, states now remaining to be called are Michigan and Wisconsin, where Kerry is leading, and New Mexico, where Bush is ahead. Bush could conceivably win without Ohio by capturing all or most of the outstanding states, but Kerry can't win without Ohio's 20 electoral votes.

2:30 a.m. ET: Edwards: 'We can wait'

Vice-presidential candidate John Edwards vowed to fight to ensure every vote counts, clearly signalling that the Democratic ticket would not concede without Ohio's provisional ballots being counted. Bush was leading by more than 120,000 votes in Ohio with 97% of precincts reporting. Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said around 250,000 provisional ballots were outstanding, but Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell said the number was "trending toward" 175,000.

1:33 a.m. ET: Kerry says Ohio still counting

Sen. John Kerry's campaign, apparently trying to head off an early call of the election, stressed that close to 250,000 provisional ballots have yet to be counted in Ohio. The statement to CNN by Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill came as Bush showed a 51%-49% lead with 92% of precincts reporting, and two TV networks — NBC and Fox — projected an Ohio win for Bush. Ohio officials said they would start counting provisional ballots 11 days after the election, allowing time for absentee ballots to arrive as well.

1:27 a.m. ET: Beer baron beaten in Colo.

Colorado sent Democrat Ken Salazar to the Senate, opting for the moderate attorney general over Republican beer baron Pete Coors in a seat once thought to be solidly GOP.

1:12 a.m. ET: Kerry takes NH

Sen. Kerry won the closely contested battleground state of New Hampshire with its four electoral votes, the AP projected.

1 a.m. ET: NBC sees Bush winning Ohio

Two TV networks, NBC and Fox, are projecting that Pres. Bush has won the key state of Ohio, which would virtually seal his victory. But AP reports that voting is continuing at some polling stations where voters have been lined up since the official 7:30 close. The AP, meanwhile, called Alaska for Bush.

12:45 p.m. ET: Baked Alaska?

Alaska voters decided to legalize marijuana, while voters in Montana approved the plant's use for medicinal purposes, the AP reported. The Alaska ballot initiative replaces criminal penalties for marijuana use and sale with state regulation, much like alcohol.

12:37 a.m. ET: More states called

Sen. Kerry won Oregon, Washington and Minnesota while Pres. Bush took Colorado, Montana and Utah, the AP projected, based on returns and exit polls. None of the results was a surprise, though the Oregon and Minnesota races had been relatively close.

12:17 a.m. ET: GOP retains House

Aided by aggressive redistricting in Texas, the Republican Party is on its way to extending its decade-long grip on the House of Representatives. Returns and exit polls show the GOP capturing three formerly Democratic seats in Texas and a fourth in Kentucky, for a net gain of two seats so far.

12:01 a.m. ET: Bush wins Florida

Pres. Bush won Florida with its 27 electoral votes, the AP projected, based on returns and exit polls. The president's victory in Florida, where the 2000 election was decided, makes it appear that the race is increasingly centering on Ohio as a must-win for Sen. Kerry.

Two TV networks, ABC and CBS, are projecting that Pres. Bush will win Florida. With the AP projecting that Bush has won Arkansas, the race is increasingly centering on Ohio as a must-win for Sen. Kerry.

11:26 p.m. ET: GOP keeps Senate

Republicans have renewed their grip on the Senate and are reaching out for more, according to AP projections. They captured Democratic seats across the south to counter a win in Illinois by rising Democratic star Barack Obama. In South Dakota, Democratic leader Tom Daschle is facing a strong challenge.

11:16 p.m. ET: Gay marriage hit

Initiatives banning gay marriage have passed in nine of 11 states where they are on the ballot. The state constitutional amendments were among numerous ballot initiatives that went to the voters today.

11 p.m. ET: More states called

Sen. Kerry won California, as expected, collecting the nation's single largest trove of electoral votes — 55, the AP projected, based on early returns and exit polls. Pres. Bush meanwhile captured Arizona and Idaho, the projections said. Those followed Kerry's victory in Pennsylvania and a Bush win in Missouri.

10:55 p.m. ET: Kerry wins Penn.

Sen. Kerry has captured the battleground state of Pennsylvania with its 21 electoral votes, the AP projected, based on exit polls and returns. The other two big swing states, Ohio and Florida, have not been called several hours after polls in those states closed, with late voting continuing at some stations in Ohio.

10:51 p.m. ET: Penn. tips toward Kerry

CNN, CBS and NBC are all projecting that Kerry will win Pennsylvania with its 21 electoral votes.

10:46 p.m. ET: The gender gap

Exit polls show a split between male and female voters, with Kerry leading Bush 53-45 among women, and Bush leading Kerry 51-47 among men. That's similar to the Bush-Gore split in 2000. One difference — exit polls indicate that significantly more women are voting this year.

10:25 p.m. ET: GOP senator survives in Ky.

Kentucky Republican Jim Bunning survived a strong challenge from Democrat Daniel Mongiardo to preserve his U.S. Senate seat and the GOP lead in the chamber, the AP projected based on returns and exit polls. Meanwhile in South Dakota, the Senate race between minority leader Tom Daschle and Republican challenger John Thune was going down to the wire.

9:55 p.m. ET: Dead heat in Florida

Florida exit polls show Bush and Kerry tied 50-50 in the battleground state, triggering visions of 2000 in the heads of election-watchers. Not surprisingly, Kerry voters tell pollsters they don't like how things are going – on Iraq, terrorism or the economy – and they're looking for a change. Bush voters are saying they want a strong leader with moral values, and they think Bush is the only person who can handle terrorism. They also tend to believe the economy is good and they approve of the decision to go to war in Iraq and how it's now being handled.

9:41 p.m. ET: Colorado rejects split vote

Colorado voters rejected a proposal to split their 9 electoral votes based on the popular vote, the AP projected based on exit polls. The controversial measure could have further complicated the USA's tight presidential race.

9:30 p.m. ET: No breakout for youth vote

It's not turning out to be a breakout year for the youth vote, with 18 to 24-year-olds making up about the same proportion of voters as in 2000, exit polls indicate. But total numbers of young voters appear up with turnout. More significantly, exit polls indicate that voters aged 18-29 favor Kerry over Bush by 12 percentage points, while their counterparts favored Sen. Al Gore by only 4 percentage points in 2000.

9:28 p.m. ET: Bush takes La., Miss.

Pres. Bush won Louisiana and Mississippi, with their combined 15 electoral votes, the AP projected based on exit polls.

9 p.m. ET: More states called

Pres. Bush won Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, while Sen. Kerry took New York and Rhode Island, the AP projected, based on exit polls as voting in those states ended. Conspicuous in their absence from results are the battleground states of Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, where polls closed between 7:30 and 9 p.m. ET.

Pres. Bush will win South Carolina's 11 electoral votes, the AP projected based on exit polls.

8:34 p.m. ET: North Carolina for Bush

Pres. Bush captured North Carolina's 15 electoral votes and Indiana's 11, the AP projected, based on exit polls in Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards' home state. AP still has not called Virginia or South Carolina, but CNN and some other networks were giving both states to Bush.

8:20 p.m. Balance holding in Senate

All eyes were on the Kentucky Senate race, where Republican Jim Bunning was struggling to hold onto his seat, after Democrats and Republicans swapped Senate seats in Georgia and Illinois, keeping the chamber's overall balance the same.

8 p.m. ET: Kerry gains ground

Sen. Kerry won Delaware, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Illinois, Maine, Maryland, his home state of Massachusetts, and the important prize of New Jersey, the AP projected based on exit polls. Pres. Bush won Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee, the projections said.

7:59 p.m. ET: Ohio polls close

Exit polls gave Sen. Kerry a 52%-48% lead in Ohio shortly after polls closed at 7:30 p.m. ET, but neither the TV networks nor the AP immediately called the battleground state based on those projections. Also close was North Carolina.

7:30 p.m. ET: Bush takes WVa

Once reliably Democratic West Virginia will give its 5 electoral votes to Pres. Bush, the AP projected based on exit polls. The AP earlier called Kentucky, Indiana and Georgia for Bush, and Vermont for Kerry.

7:24 p.m. ET: Youth turnout high

Younger voters are turning out in larger proportion this year, compared with 2000. Seventeen percent of those surveyed in early exit polls were between 18 and 29 years old, compared to 9% in 2000.

One result of having such stark issues: people made up their minds earlier. In 2000, 69% said they had made up their mind more than a month before the election. This year, 79% had made up their minds a month before the election. Late-deciding voters broke in Kerry's favor, and those who decided sometime in the first few weeks of October (think debates) broke strongly in favor of Kerry. Early deciders were split.

7:06 p.m. ET: Bush takes Ind., Ky., Ga.

Pres. Bush won Georgia, Indiana and Kentucky while Sen. Kerry took Vermont, the AP projected, based on early returns and exit polls. The other states where polls closed at 7 p.m. ET — South Carolina and Virginia — are too close to call.

The Republicans picked up an additional Senate seat in Georgia, where Jonny Isakson was elected to succeed the retiring, aisle-crossing Democrat Zell Miller, the projections show. Two other key Senate races are under way in Kentucky and South Carolina, with the chamber's balance of power at stake.

6:58 p.m. ET: The early leaders: women

Early exit polls showed women going to the polls in disproportionate numbers: 57% of the voters are female, 43% male. In each of the last three presidential elections, the proportion was 52% female, 48% male.

More voters listed moral values as the issue that mattered in their presidential vote, followed closely by those who listed the economy/jobs and terrorism. Seventy-nine percent of Bush voters said moral values mattered most, compared to 22% of Kerry voters. Kerry voters were mostly likely to cite Iraq and the economy.

6:30 p.m. ET: First returns come in

Polls in the eastern parts of Indiana and Kentucky closed at 6 p.m. ET. Neither state will be called until polls in Central time zone close an hour later, but the early returns put Pres. Bush well ahead of Sen. Kerry in both states.

6:10 p.m. ET: No widespread irregularities

There have been long waits, plenty of snafus and scattered challenges but no widespread reports of fraud so far in the USA's most closely monitored election, The Associated Press reports. In Ohio, a federal judge ruled that voters who had not received absentee ballots on time could cast provisional ballots.

5:30 p.m. ET: Bush poised for first wave

Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia will be the first wave of states whose polls close tonight at 7 p.m. ET. None of these is a battleground, with President Bush expected to win all but Vermont.

Some signs worth watching, though: Whether Bush again carries Kentucky's Jefferson County, a Democratic-leaning area which includes Louisville. And in the Kentucky Senate race, an upset by Democrat Dan Mongiardo of Republican incumbent Jim Bunning could signal a good night for Democrats, who are hoping to recapture the Senate. Just as important to the balance of power, South Carolina, Democrat Inez Tenenbaum is up against Republican Jim DeMint for the Senate seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Ernest Hollings in Republican-leaning South Carolina.